Push-on bolt stabilizer

ABSTRACT

The invention provides for a retainer for stabilizing a threaded member. The retainer may include a base portion having an opening and an outer perimeter lying in a first plane, the opening having a plurality of elongated sections each extending toward the outer perimeter so as to define in the base portion one or more arms. Each of the aims may have a head section having at least one groove, the head sections being located in a second plane which is parallel to and spaced apart from the first plane. The elongated sections may be symmetrically arranged about an axis. The grooves may be arranged to define at least a portion of a helix. The outer perimeter of the retainer may be circular.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application under 35 U.S.C. §120 ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/083,100, entitled PUSH-ON BOLTSTABILIZER, filed on Apr. 8, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,371,784, which isa continuation of application Ser. No. 12/401,913, entitled PUSH-ON BOLTSTABILIZER, filed on Mar. 11, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,950,886 which isa continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/205,805, entitledPUSH-ON BOLT STABILIZER, filed on Jul. 26, 2002, the entire disclosuresof which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed generally to toilet bolts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One of the most common ways to hold a toilet seat to the floor is with abolt. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,479, the contents of which areincorporated by reference.

When using a nut and bolt fastener it is almost always the practice toprovide the objects being joined with a bore through which the bolt bodyextends. Bolt insertion into the bore is facilitated by making the boresomewhat larger than the bolt's diameter.

As the diameter of the bore increases relative to the diameter of thebolt, and the thickness of the bore decreases relative to the length ofthe bolt body, the bolt becomes more prone to shifting its position inthe bore before the nut is tightened. Such movement of the bolt maythwart or at least complicate attachment and tightening of the nut andproper positioning of the bolt and object being attached. Moreover, incertain types of installations, such as those described below involvingtoilets, the bolt may even drop out of the bore. Thus, there exists ageneral need for a device which helps to stabilize and position a boltfor a toilet.

Toilets typically have universally accepted components for mounting on afloor surface. The toilet has a horizontal base to rest on and engagethe floor surface. A recess opening appears on the underside thereofwith a perimeter. A floor ring already mounted in the floor, is fittedwithin the recess. The floor ring is in communication with thedownwardly extending sewer pipe.

A pair of oppositely disposed slots are typically formed in the flangeand comprise a wide bolt head receiving portion terminating in anelongated narrow bolt head retaining portion slots. These openingsextend vertically through the flange. The narrow portion of the slotfrequently has lower edges terminating in a groove extending along theedges. The groove has a width greater than the narrow portion of theslot.

Conventionally, a bolt which has tipper and lower ends with the lowerend having a planar head is mounted within the narrow portion of theslot with the planar head on the lower end thereof positioned in theaforementioned groove. The planar head on the bolt has a width widerthan the narrow portion of the slot, and a longitudinal length greaterthan the width of the narrow portion. The longitudinal length of thehead has a center axis which is typically positioned by turning the boltso that the center axis extends across the width of the narrow portionof the slot.

A potential problem with the conventional configuration is that it isdifficult to stabilize the bolt in the flange slot as the toilet islowered. Since it is very difficult for the installer to see the boltsand to hold the toilet in place as the toilet is lowered over theupwardly pointing bolts, the bolts can be accidentally knocked out ofposition when the toilet is lowered over the bolts. Such bolts can belost below the floor surface.

One existing scheme for restraining toilet bolts during pedestalinstallations uses a loose floating washer. While advantageous forholding the bolt in the flange, the configuration does not keep the boltfixed, to make slipping the bore over the bolt easier. Anotherconventional system uses a thin flat plastic washer with a circularcentral opening, and four small notches symmetrically arranged about thedisk's center. These notches define four flexible tabs which can retainthe washer over the bolt threads. This configuration has also not beenfound to securely hold the bolt in place as a porcelain toilet is beinglowered thereon. If the bottom of the toilet hits the top of the bolt asit is being lowered, it could force the bolt through the washer and intothe floorboard.

The construction does not reliably hold the bolt securely enough in theslot to prevent it from being knocked out of position when the toilet islowered.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improvedarticle and method for securing toilets to flanged rings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, a mounting boltsystem for use in mounting toilets to flanges is provided. The systemincludes a bolt with upper and lower ends with an elongated threadedshank therebetween. An elongated planar head is on the lower end of thebolt, and a longitudinal length larger than the diameter of the shank.The head has a center axis extending along its length. A threadedpush-on ring retainer is included to make a tight connection between thebolt head and the floor flange to hold the bolt securely enough that itwill hold its position as the toilet is lowered. The ring is of asuitable diameter for convenient hand turning and is constructed of aflexible resilient material with the center or hub section sufficientlythick in depth to allow for a threaded opening to be in the center. Theouter edge of the push-on retaining ring is provided with raised pointsor knobs to facilitate turning. The push-on retaining ring isconstructed so that it can be easily pushed over the bolt threads andsnugged tight with a minimal amount of turning. The internal threads inthe center or hub of the ring allow it to be tightened in order to holdthe fastening device in the proper position.

The retainer ring can include a base portion for contacting the uppersurface of the flange, having an opening and an outer perimeter lying ina first plane, the opening having a plurality of independently movableelongated sections, each extending inwardly from the outer perimetertowards the center so as to define in the base portion one or morefingers. Each of the fingers may have a gripping section having at leastone ridge for engaging the bolt threads, the gripping sections beinglocated in a second plane which is parallel to and spaced above thefirst plane.

The retainer may be pushed onto a bolt to its final position forretaining a bolt, or near its final position. The retainer may then berotated and screwed with minimal turning onto the bolt to further securethe bolt, the retainer should be sufficiently sturdy such that it canhold the bolt securely enough during toilet installation.

Because the fingers flex away from the slot as the retainer is slid intoplace, wear on the threads and grooves of the bolt and the retainer maybe minimized during sliding of the retainer. Accordingly, once theretainer is positioned close to its final position, it may be rotated,with the grooves on the groove or grooves on the head section of thearms providing a threaded connection with the threaded bolt.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawing figures, which are merely illustrative, and wherein likereference characters denote similar elements throughout the severalviews:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a conventional bolt for usewith of this invention;

FIG. 2 is plan view of a conventional floor ring;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3A is an enlarged scale sectional view taken on line 3A-3A of FIG.3;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged scale sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2with the bolt removed;

FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of an embodiment of a retaining ring;

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of the retaining ring of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the retaining ring of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the retaining ring of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a bottom plan view of the retaining ring of FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is a sectional elevational view of the retainer of FIG. 8 takenalong section line 10-10; and

FIG. 11 is a sectional elevational view of the retainer of FIG. 8 takenalong section line 11-11.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Referring generally to FIG. 3, a conventional floor surface 10 is shownsupporting a conventional toilet 12 having a base 14, a perimeterportion 16, and a centrally located recess 18 in the bottom centralportion thereof.

A conventional floor ring 20 is installed in floor 10. Floor ring 20 hasa center opening 22 which terminates in a downwardly extending sewerpipe 24. A conventional wax ring 26 is mounted on top of floor ring 20and serves to seal toilet 12 to floor ring 20 when the installation iscompleted. Floor ring 20 is nested within recess 18 of base 14 of toilet12.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 3A, and 4) a pair of elongated slots 28 areformed in ring 20. Slots 28 are comprised of a wide portion 30 whichterminates in elongated narrow portion 32. As shown in FIG. 4, a groove34 is formed underneath narrow portion 32 under a lower edge 36 ofnarrow portion 32.

As shown in FIG. 1, a bolt 38 has an upper end 40 and a lower end 42. Aplanar head 44 is located on the lower end 42 and has a center axis 46.The width of head 44 is designated by W 48, and the length thereof isdesignated by the letter L 50. A threaded shank 52 extends from lowerend 42 to upper end 40.

To install toilet 12, floor ring 20 is set in place in floor surface 10with a bolt 48 extending upwardly from each of the slots 28. A nut 56 oneach bolt is typically not installed on the upper ends of the bolts 38at that point in time. Typically, heads 44 of bolts 38 are inserted intoslots 28 through the wide portion 30 thereof, and can be moved into thenarrow portions 32. Wax ring 26 is then located in its conventionalposition, and toilet 12 is thereupon lowered onto floor ring 20 so thatbolts 38 can extend through bores 58 in the base of toilet 12. It isapparent how it is difficult to keep bolts 38 in place, so that a bore38A in toilet 12 rides over bolts 38. However, a retainer 100′ is usefulto hold bolts 38 upright as the toilet is lowered.

A preferred example of a push down bolt retainer in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the invention is shown generally as retainer 100in FIGS. 5-11.

Retainer 100 comprises a first base portion 130 and two or more fingers140 extending inwards from first base portion 130. First base portion130 includes a bottom surface 131 which will contact the top of theflange where the retaining bolt extends through a base in the toilet.Thus, the diameter of base 130 should be larger than the typical flangeslot, which is generally 0.375 inches wide. The outer periphery of firstbase portion 130 should be thick and wide enough to be easy to turn byhand. Thus, raised nibs 132 are advantageously included. First baseportion 130 should also be sturdy enough to provide effective strength.Generally, a thickness of 0.040 to 0.125 inches, preferably 0.075 to0.085 inches and a width of 0.50 to 1.250 inches, preferably 1.175 to1.185 inches is suitable.

Fingers 140 have a second base portion 141 where they extend from firstbase portion 130 and a tip portion 142, where they grip the threads ofthe retaining bolt, e.g., threads 42 of bolt 38, It is desired thatretainer 100 can be pushed onto the retaining bolt and then snuggedtight with minimal turning. Accordingly, fingers 140 advantageouslyincline up from bottom surface 131 in the direction from second baseportion 141 to tip 142. Thus, second base portion 141 can act as aliving hinge as fingers 140 are deflected upwards as retainer 100 ispushed down over a bolt. In another embodiment of the invention, fingers140 are not inclined and rely on their flexibility and resiliency topermit retainer 100 to be pushed over a bolt. Consequently, retainer 100is advantageously made of plastic, rubber or other plastic-like andrubber-like materials.

In order to permit deformation at tip 142, to permit retainer 100 to bepushed over a bolt, fingers 140 are advantageously wedge shaped andseparated by slots 143.

It is also advantageous that tip portion 142 includes a bolt threadgripping section 150. An inwardly facing surface 151 of gripping section150 can be threaded with one, two or more ridges 152 to grip the boltthreads. The plurality of inwardly facing surfaces 151 can define a holefor receiving the bolt shaft. Thus, after retainer 100 is pushed overthe bolt, turning retainer 100 will force gripping section 150downwards, imparting a downward force to bottom surface 131. Becausegripping section 150 is on a plane raised above first base portion_130,tightening retainer 100 will force fingers 140 even closer toward themiddle, increasing the force with which they grip the bolt. This willact to hold the bolt in place more securely, rather than deflecting itout of position. The inclined structure of fingers 140 serves to reducewear on the inner threads.

Furthermore, because second base portion 141 may act as a living hingeas fingers 140 are deflected upwards, and because fingers 140 may eachbe deflected independently of the other fingers 140, retainer 100 may beused for stabilizing a variety of bolt sizes, such as, for example, size¼-20 bolts (¼ inch diameter, 20 threads per inch), and size 5/16-18bolts ( 5/16 inch diameter, 18 threads per inch).

Once retainer 100 is positioned proximate its final location on thebolt, retainer 100 may be rotated or twisted into place with ridges 150on retainer 100 threadably mating with the threads on the bolt (notshown).

Moreover, the user does not have to rotate retainer 100 and thread itall the way down the length of the bolt, but may save time by pressingand sliding it into its final position, or a position close to its finalposition, before finally rotating retainer 100 into its final positionby use of ridges 142.

Moreover, because gripping sections 150 are disposed in a second planewhich is parallel to and spaced apart from the first plane (i.e., thebase top 133 is disposed a first distance D1 along a center axis ofretainer 100 from the base bottom 131 and the top of each of theplurality of fingers 140 is disposed a second distance D2 along thecenter axis from the base bottom 131, and the second distance D2 isgreater than the first distance D1), the sliding of retainer 100 intoits final or approximately its final position is facilitated. Thepreferred relationship of D1 and D2 is between 10:20 and 14:17,preferably 13:18.

In an exemplary embodiment, the fingers 140 may be symmetricallyarranged about an axis. Fingers 140, however, need not be symmetricallyarranged, and may be arranged in other alignments as a matter of designchoice by one skilled in the art.

In an exemplary embodiment, ridges 152 may define at least one threadridge arranged to define at least a portion of a helix, such that ridges152 may suitably mate with the helical threads and grooves of a bolt(not shown).

Furthermore, in an exemplary embodiment, outer perimeter 135 of retainer100 may be substantially circular. Outer perimeter 135 of retainer 100may, however, be formed in alternate shapes such as, by way ofnon-limiting example, a substantially square shape, a substantiallytriangular shape, or other shapes as a matter of application specificdesign choice by one skilled in the art.

Thus, while there have been shown and described and pointed out novelfeatures of the present invention as applied to preferred embodimentsthereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutionsand changes in the form and details of the disclosed invention may bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit ofthe invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only asindicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall there between. In particular,this invention should not be construed as being limited to thedimensions, proportions or arrangements disclosed herein.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A retainer sized, constructed and arrangedfor retaining a bolt having a threaded shank, the retainer comprising: afirst base portion having a bottom surface in a first plane; and asecond base portion comprising a living hinge portion extending inwardlyand upwardly from the first base portion and above the first plane, andmore than two fingers extending in a continuously inclined upward andinward direction from the second base portion, each finger having adeformable tip section having at least one thread engaging ridge, eachfinger and deformable tip section disconnected separated from anadjacent finger and deformable tip section, the deformable tip sectionsbeing disposed in a second plane above the first plane and above thesecond base portion and together defining a bolt bore aperture sized toreceive the threaded shank of the bolt, the fingers are constructed andarranged so that the thread engaging ridges on the deformable tipsections deflect in use upwardly and outwardly away from the threadedshank of the bolt when the retainer is pushed in a downward directionfrom the second plane towards the first plane over the threads of thethreaded shank, and deflect in use downwardly and inwardly when theretainer is tightened by turning the retainer over the bolt.
 2. Theretainer according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the fingers istapered in the direction extending from the second base portion to thedeformable tip section.
 3. The retainer according to claim 1, whereinthe thread ridges are arranged to define at least a portion of a helix.4. The retainer according to claim 1, wherein the perimeter of the baseportion is substantially circular.
 5. The retainer according to claim 1,wherein the retainer comprises a polymeric material.
 6. The retaineraccording to claim 1, wherein the retainer is made of plastic.
 7. Theretainer of claim 6, the bolt bore aperture having a diametersubstantially that of the diameter of the threaded shank.
 8. Theretainer of claim 1, wherein the bottom surface is substantially smooth.9. An assembly for retaining a threaded bolt, the assembly comprising: athreaded bolt and a retainer, the retainer comprising: a first baseportion having a central axis and a bottom surface in a first plane; asecond base portion comprising a living hinge portion extending inwardlyand upwardly from the first base portion and above the first plane, anda plurality of flexible fingers continuously extending inclinedlyupwards and inwards from the second base portion and inwards towards thecentral axis, each of the plurality of flexible fingers separated froman adjacent flexible finger; each of the plurality of flexible fingershaving a deformable gripping section, each of the deformable grippingsections having a thread dimensioned and disposed to threadingly engagethe threaded bolt, and each deformable gripping section disconnectedfrom an adjacent deformable gripping section; wherein each of theplurality of flexible fingers hingedly flex about the living hinge in adirection away from the first base portion when the retainer is beingpushed over the threads of the threaded bolt, and when the retainer istightened by rotating the retainer around the threaded bolt the flexiblefingers flex inwardly to urge the deformable gripping sections towardsand against the threaded bolt.
 10. The assembly according to claim 9,further comprising a plurality of nibs disposed about a perimeter of thefirst base portion.
 11. The assembly according to claim 9, wherein theplurality of flexible fingers are symmetrically arranged about thecentral axis.
 12. The assembly of claim 9, wherein the retainer isformed of plastic.
 13. The assembly of claim 9, wherein the first baseportion comprises a substantially smooth bottom surface.
 14. Theassembly of claim 9, wherein at least one of the plurality of flexiblefingers is tapered in the direction extending from the first baseportion to the deformable gripping section.